Spinning Into Gold

by Emma Savant

  “I’ve got it,” Sheryl, the guitarist, said. I heard the soft whisper of her leather jacket as she rummaged in her pocket, then a burst of magic zinged past me to light up the room with a dozen dimly glowing white orbs.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Amplify me?”

  She was already waving her wand.

  I tried again.

  “Looks like we’re having some technical difficulties,” I said to the audience, and my voice resonated though the space. My voice wasn’t as finely tuned and balanced as it had sounded through the enchanted microphone, but it wouldn’t matter. This audience wasn’t really listening. They were here because they had to be, and they felt connected to me because August told them they should.

  “Luckily for us, there’s a lot of magic in this room,” I said. “You faeries feel free to light your wands. Witches, I’m all right with few illumination incantations. Let’s get this stage shining.”

  They complied, everyone eager and ready to help the show continue. After a moment, enough light hovered above the stage to compete with the lights we’d had before. The display wasn’t as targeted as my spotlight, but was surprisingly beautiful; faerie orbs hovered next to cool blue witch flames and the curtains glowed faintly with a magician’s spell.

  I scanned the audience, and my body almost melted with relief. August was still there, and now all the guards were on him, surrounding him and with silver ribbons holding him so tightly even he couldn’t slither away. The audience ignored them.

  I blew the audience a kiss. “You guys are amazing,” I said. “All right, let’s keep this going!”

  A guitar and bass riff started up behind me. I opened my mouth and began to sing, and felt the first flickers of hope.

  As I sang, Briana and Sadie edged carefully toward the knot of guards, tilting their phone cameras to capture what was happening. As they walked in a roundabout, winding way through the room they held out their wands and tagged everyone they passed with small magical tracers.

  I didn’t even have enough energy left to put on my glamours, but I dug down deep and sent my friends a wave of love. They both looked up sharply at me. Briana’s face lit up with a smile. Sadie put her hand on her heart for a brief moment before going back to filming.

  Somehow, through adrenaline or an inner strength I didn’t understand, I made it through the last three songs. It gave the guards enough time to carry August from the room, and Briana and Sadie enough time to finish placing their charms.

  Finally, I made it through the last lines of the last song. Sadie pushed her way to the edge of the stage and gave me a thumbs-up. My knees shook with the effort of holding myself up and pushing my way through the last pared-down dance moves. Behind me, the backup dancers kept going like everything was normal. I made a mental note to send them all gift cards.

  “Happy birthday, Your Highness!” I called.

  Keith pounded the drums. Dan, the keyboardist, pulled out his wand and made the lights above us flash on and off until they pulsed almost like a strobe. I blew the audience another kiss, and then I waved and ran off the stage, forcing an impossible lightness into my steps.

  The band leapt into action to push the lights back out toward the audience. The stage grew dark, the curtains closed, and the audience began screaming for an encore.

  They weren’t going to get it. Not tonight. There were things I had to do.

  Sadie and Briana were backstage within seconds. Briana flung her arms around me. I swayed.

  “I’m going to die,” I said.

  “Not just yet,” Sadie said. She handed me a water bottle filled with sparking fairy dust, and I gulped down half of it in one go. It would take a moment for the dust to hit my system, but just knowing the jolt of energy was coming was enough to keep me from collapsing on the floor.

  “They’ve got him backstage,” Sadie said. “Do you want to see him? We can’t exactly arrest him, but the guards can hold him for a while since he’s considered a threat to your and Prince Clarence’s personal safety.”

  “He’s a threat to everyone’s safety,” I said. “Yes, I want to see him. Stay close.”

  Briana took my hand. I held my wand tightly in the other one. I didn’t need to use it, but just having the thin metal pressing into my palm made me feel safer.

  The three of us went back to the hallway that held dressing rooms and storage closets. Sadie opened one of the doors and led us into a dressing room that was almost empty of furniture but full of people. August sat in the center, tied to a chair with shimmering silver rope, his mouth bound with silver ribbon. Four guards stood around him—four gray-faced guards who, I realized now, were mountain trolls. No wonder they’d been impervious to his magic.

  Clarence stood beside them, his arms folded, staring at my manager. A thousand thoughts seemed to be running through his head, but he was silent.

  August saw me and thrashed in the chair. With his mouth bound, his eyes were the only part of him that could communicate, and the rage and hatred in them made the hair stand up on my arms. I took a tiny, involuntary step back. Briana held tight to my hand.

  “Can I punch him?” she asked the guards. “Because I really want to punch him.”

  “I don’t advise it,” one of the women said. She had a hard face, with a firm, square jaw and glinting gray eyes.

  I’d only seen a few trolls up close before. Aside from her skin, she looked almost human, and was beautiful in a strong way that made me want to admire her from afar but never, ever cross her.

  “If you’re planning on pressing charges, you’d better direct your anger elsewhere,” she added. “If you’re not planning on pressing charges, then I guess we could leave the room for a minute.”

  One of the men coughed disapprovingly, but she just folded her arms and gave August a dirty look.

  “We’re pressing charges,” I said, putting a hand on Briana’s arm. “I hope.” I looked around. “Where’s Serena?”

  “She’s on the mirror with some people at the Waterfall Palace,” Clarence said.

  Sadie scoffed, but looked almost impressed. “They weren’t happy about her broadcasting your show in the middle of one of their galas,” she said. “Apparently Heir Olivia was hosting a reception this evening and there was a giant mirror in the ballroom that was supposed to let Queen Amani call in from Thailand. Instead, they got you.”

  I winced.

  “And they got a good show,” Briana said, defensively.

  “What about the audience?” I said.

  “All tagged with tracers,” Sadie said. “Clarence invited his guests to a fancy breakfast tomorrow, so we’re hoping we’ll have an easy time rounding most of them up in the morning.”

  “Assuming we can do anything by morning,” Clarence said.

  August shifted violently in his chair, sending two of the legs skidding forward at an angle. I squeezed Briana’s hand but stood still. I stared him down.

  He was restrained. I wasn’t.

  I just didn’t know how long we could hold him, and I could only imagine what he would do to me if he broke free.

  Clarence nodded to one of the guards, who calmly shifted August’s chair back into place. They were all controlled and professional, although the woman who’d spoken earlier kept staring daggers at him.

  August didn’t take his eyes off me. He was so angry. If I got quiet and tuned in, I could feel a hot fury coming off of him and jolting against the shield created by my enchantments and charmed anklet. I couldn’t imagine where I’d be without their protection and the help of everyone standing in this room.

  I took a step toward him. The guards watched me, alert. Clarence held out a hand as if to stop me.

  “I’m fine,” I said, and he folded his arms again.

  Everyone’s eyes were on me, but as grateful as I was for their support, this conversation wasn’t for everyone. I crouched down in front of August’s chair. He strained against the rope, and his fingers twitched as though he wanted to wrap them around my thr
oat. I held tight to my wand, just for the reassurance of knowing it was there.

  “You are fired,” I said softly. “I am going to make sure you get locked up.”

  He stilled, and the look in his eyes intensified. He couldn’t get free of the ropes, but he could still threaten me.

  The weight of the threat made my stomach wobble.

  “Or maybe the Faerie Court will strip you of your powers,” I said. “To be honest, I don’t know what’s going to happen to you. But you are going to pay for what you’ve done, and you are never, never going to do to anyone else what you tried to do to me.”

  He tried to say something in return, but it only came out as an angry, muffled sound. I held up a hand.

  “No,” I said. “You don’t get to talk right now. Not to me. When it comes to me, nothing you say matters anymore. Your opinion doesn’t count. This is my life, my body, my career, my decisions. And if you ever try to come near me again I swear to Titania I will make you wish you’d never met me. We clear?”

  He yanked against his ropes.

  Nothing I said had made a difference to him. Nothing I could say ever would.

  And that didn’t matter. No matter what he thought, I knew where I stood.

  I went to stand next to Clarence and wrapped my arm around his waist. He pulled me close. I felt my heartbeat slow under his touch.

  “You did good,” he said quietly.

  “This isn’t over yet.”

  Sadie folded her arms and tapped her fingertips against her elbow, staring August down like she was thinking of things to do to him. Briana just glared.

  Behind us, the door opened. Serena bolted in, then slammed the door shut and leaned back against it. Her skin was even more pale than usual and her dark eyes were huge and almost afraid.

  No one would listen to us, and she’d just lost her job. I knew it before she spoke, and my stomach dropped. I felt the world falling apart around us, and I hung on to Clarence and braced myself for the words.

  “Shit,” Sadie muttered. “Are they going to arrest us?”

  I hadn’t even thought that far ahead, but of course broadcasting into the Waterfall Palace without permission was against some law or other.

  Not that it mattered. I couldn’t speak for my friends, but I knew I’d rather be safe in prison than walk free in the same world as August Rumpel. Still, I didn’t know if I could survive the realization that the terror in my heart and aching tiredness in my bones had been for nothing.

  August fell very still and his eyes narrowed in a sickening expression of victory. Serena took deep breaths and looked between all of us, opening and then closing her mouth like she couldn’t find the words.

  “Damn it, Serena, what’s happening?” Briana finally burst out.

  She swallowed. “They’re coming,” she said.

  I didn’t know what that meant. Clarence held me so tightly I didn’t think a hurricane could have pulled us apart.

  Out in the hallway, footsteps sounded, moving towards us. I was tense enough to snap clean in half. I forced myself to breathe, and tried to pretend I couldn’t practically hear the panicked heartbeats in the room.

  One of the guards shifted from foot to foot. “This was a security issue,” he said, and I had a feeling that was going to be the line we would all have to repeat as we tried to defend ourselves.

  I didn’t want to defend myself. That was all I’d been doing for months. It didn’t matter what happened to me—if August walked out of here, I was going to fall apart.

  The footsteps stopped outside our door. There was a pause that felt like it took hours, and then the door burst open.

  I saw stars as the blood rushed from my head. Clarence jolted in surprise. Briana squeaked.

  “Heir Olivia,” Serena said faintly.

  The second most powerful Glim in the world looked around at all of us, taking in the scene through sharp eyes that seemed to see through all of us. Her cloud of dark curls was pinned back into a bun and held together with a silver wand with a flower-shaped handle. Her mouth was set in a tight line and she looked thoroughly annoyed.

  “So,” she said, folding her arms and staring at August. “That’s where you went."

  Chapter 32

  The guards pulled themselves together first. One of them bowed, and the others quickly followed.

  “Your Excellence,” one of the men said.

  She nodded to them, polite but not distracted. Clarence stepped forward slightly.

  “Heir Olivia,” he said, holding a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  She looked up at him, and her eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to place him. She held out her hand.

  “I’m Clarence of Oxfordshire,” Clarence said, shaking it. “Son of Sovereign Theodoric and Queen Raina.”

  Recognition dawned across her expressive faerie features. “Oh, of course,” she said. “I met your mom a few months ago at a Council of Glim Nations summit. She’s brilliant.”

  “She is, thank you,” Clarence said.

  “And do you know this charming piece of work?” the Heir said, gesturing at August.

  “As well as I care to,” he said.

  Serena stepped forward, looking calm but still pale. She pressed her hands stiffly against her legs like she didn’t trust herself to stay in one place.

  “Mr. Rumpel is here under my responsibility,” she said. “My apologies, Your Excellence. The broadcast in the Waterfall Palace was entirely my fault and done on my instructions. I’m the only one who should be punished. The others were just trying to protect Dior.”

  Heir Olivia held up a hand. Serena immediately fell silent.

  “I’ll care about the whats and wheres and whys later,” she said. “The Faerie Court will want to hear all about it, I’m sure, as will the press once the trial’s over. I think we can safely stop talking about punishment, though.”

  She looked around at all of us. I felt my knees go weak when her eyes landed on me.

  She was the Heir, the future of our world, and a woman so powerful a single command from her could change the seasons. I’d met my fair share of celebrities and influential people. I was dating an actual prince. But being in the same room as her was terrifying.

  “Except punishment for August, of course,” she said. “That’s the name you’re going by now, right?”

  He glared at her as though he’d like to rip her apart, but I noticed his normally golden-tan face had gone almost as pale as Serena’s.

  The Heir seemed to notice our stricken expressions.

  “We’ve been looking for him for a while,” she said. “Our friend here is a hard person to track. Anyone would be with that many people sworn to protect them.” She turned to August, distaste written all over her small, serious face. “You must have had the power of what, twenty faeries feeding into your concealment spells? Anything less than that and Amani would have had you years ago.”

  August thrashed. She frowned and touched her wand, then shook her head.

  “You’ll have plenty of opportunities to talk later,” she said. “For now, we need to get you somewhere safe, so you can actually get all the way to your trial without disappearing. No one here seems to like you very much.”

  The Heir tapped the handle of her wand once, and two faeries shimmered into view behind her. She gestured at August, and the faeries marched in and stood on either side of him. She looked at him for a long moment, then shook her head and walked out of the room.

  “Follow me,” she called over her shoulder. “I’d like to explain all this but I feel like we’ll enjoy ourselves more without him staring at us.”

  A few Glims who worked at the venue had been hovering outside the door. Now they rushed ahead of us, hissing orders at each other and glancing back at the Heir like they were seconds away from fainting.

  A stagehand wearing the bewildered expression of someone who didn’t know how he’d gotten there ushered us into a room that looked like it might be used for business meeting
s, or maybe meet-and-greets with artists. Small, circular oak tables stained dark and polished to a shine were scattered artfully around the room, along with dark brown leather lounge chairs and long leather sofas. Warm uplighting gave the room a soft, upscale glow. Heir Olivia gestured at a cluster of chairs and sofas.

  It felt unbelievably wrong to sit down before she did, but she was staring at us, so we sank into our seats. Clarence sat next to me, and I leaned into him and kept my hand firmly on his leg. He wrapped my hand up in his.

  He didn’t seem quite as nervous as I was, but he wasn’t totally calm, either.

  Heir Olivia dropped into one of the lounge chairs and brushed a stray curl behind her ear.

  She was younger than I was, and tiny, but the power radiating from her was impossible to miss. If I strained, I could hear it humming in the air around her.

  “How much do you know?” she said.

  Serena, who had been silent as we’d walked down the halls, was the first to speak. For the first time since I’d met her, she stumbled over her words.

  “I, um, to be honest, I don’t know,” she said. “It’s taken me a long time to determine anything for sure. We know August has some kind of, um, some power—some natural magical gift that allows him to control people, and we know he’s used that gift for personal gain.”

  “And without the consent of the people he’s manipulating,” I said.

  There was nothing wrong with using faerie gifts to better your own life, but the way he’d thrown that golden haze over me without my permission or even my knowledge was something I would never forget or forgive.

  Serena nodded, swallowed, and said, “He’s been using his abilities to control his clients. It ends up being amazing for their careers, but—I don’t know how aware they are.”

  “You’re the mastermind behind this?” Heir Olivia said sharply. “You’re the one who thought it was a good idea to broadcast that concert all through my palace?”

  Serena flushed. “No one would listen to me, Your Excellence,” she said. “I tried going through all the right channels.” She twisted her hands in her lap. “I’m a vampire. No one was going to give me the benefit of the doubt.”